[Congressional Record: March 17, 2009 (Senate)]
[Page S3124-S3126]
GUANTANAMO BAY
Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, a lot has been written over the past
several days about the inmates at Guantanamo, and none of it makes the
administration's decision to shut this facility down by the end of the
year any less challenging than it already was. This is an issue which
has grave implications for our Nation's security, and we really need to
get it right. So this morning, I wish to spend a few minutes explaining
why the administration would do well to reconsider its approach to
Guantanamo, an approach that looks even hastier now than when it was
first announced back in January.
One of the most obvious problems the administration faces on this
issue is what to do with these inmates once Guantanamo is closed. This
is not a new concern. Ever since the United States started using
Guantanamo as a detention facility after the invasion of Afghanistan,
Government officials and legal thinkers have tried to come up with ways
of dealing with enemy combatants who don't fall into the traditional
categories of war. No one denies that the United States is legally
entitled to capture and to hold enemy fighters to prevent them from
returning to battle, but their release and repatriation have proved to
be extremely complicated. As the years have passed, these questions
have become even more complicated--not less--than they were back in
2001.
Just this week, a number of European countries that had previously
offered to help the administration find a new home for about 60 of the
remaining 241 inmates at Guantanamo began to backpedal. Some of these
countries now indicate they won't take any of these inmates unless the
United States agrees to take some of them as well and agrees to put
them in American prisons. This is clearly a dodge since the American
people appear to be even less interested in housing these inmates than
the Europeans are. Well, if there is no place for these terrorists to
go in Europe and no place for them to go in the United States, an
obvious question arises: Where else can they go? At the moment, there
is no answer to that most important question.
When the question of sending detainees to U.S. soil was put to the
Senate in the summer of 2007, the vote against it was 94 to 3. We had
that vote right here in the Senate in the summer of 2007, and by a vote
of 94 to 3 Members of the Senate said they did not want these
Guantanamo prisoners on U.S. soil. This is not only a good reflection
of where public opinion is on the issue, it is also notable that four
of the votes cast were Senators from Kansas and Colorado, States that
are most often mentioned as possibilities to house the inmates. One of
these Senators, Ken Salazar, is now in the Obama administration, and
former Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, who also opposes sending
inmates to Kansas, is the administration's pick to head the Department
of Health and Human Services. So the bottom line here is that it is
hard to find anyone anywhere, even inside the Obama administration, who
wants their State to become the next home to captured violent
terrorists.
Now, there is a reason no one wants to have these guys nearby. Over
the years, the pool of prisoners at Guantanamo has become only more
dangerous, not less, and those who remain include dozens of proud and
self-proclaimed--proud and self-proclaimed--members of al-Qaida. Many
have been directly linked to some of the worst terrorist attacks in
history, including some who had direct knowledge--direct knowledge--of
September 11. Others have trained or funded terrorists, made bombs or
presented themselves as potential suicide bombers.
We recently got a vivid glimpse into the minds of these men when a
number of them responded in writing to the Government's charges against
them. Here are some of the excerpts from the document which was signed
by five men whose names appear on the chart right behind me:
With regard to these nine accusations that you are putting
us on trial for--
So said one of the terrorists--
to us, they are not accusations. To us, they are badges of
honor which we carry with pride . . . therefore, killing you
and fighting you, destroying you and terrorizing you,
responding back to your attacks, are all considered to be
great legitimate duty in our religion.
Later on, these men refer to the September 11 attacks as ``the
blessed 11 September operation.''
Toward the end of the document, they make a statement and a
prediction. Here is what they said:
We ask to be near to God, we fight you and destroy you and
terrorize you. . . . your end is very near and your fall will
be just as the fall of the towers on the blessed 9/11 day. .
. . so we ask from God to accept our contributions to the
great attack, the great attack on America, and to place our
nineteen martyred brethren among the highest peaks in
paradise. . . .
One of the most chilling statements in the document is the simple
assertion by these men, quoted on the chart behind me:
We are terrorists to the bone.
``We are terrorists to the bone.''
This is how they see themselves. These are the men the administration
wants to release from Guantanamo?
Not only are most of the remaining inmates at Guantanamo extremely
dangerous, they are also increasingly likely to return to battle if
they are transferred back to their home countries. According to
Pentagon reports, detainees who have been released from Guantanamo
appear to be reengaging in terrorism at higher rates, with the current
rate of those either suspected or confirmed of reengaging in terrorism
at about 12 percent. About 12 percent of those who have been released
are back in the fight.
More than a third of the detainees who have already been released
were from Saudi Arabia, which has its own detention and rehabilitation
system. But our confidence in that system has been shaken by recent
reports that Saudi detainees who returned home have gone back to
fighting.
Last month, two Saudis who were released from Guantanamo and who
passed through the Saudi rehabilitation program appeared in a video as
members of al-Qaida in Yemen. One of them, Ali al-Shihri, is thought to
have been involved in a deadly bombing on the U.S. Embassy in Yemen
last September.
Al-Shirhi was released to Saudi Arabia from Guantanamo in 2007.
Even more worrisome than the Saudi detainees, however, is the
prospect of releasing Yemeni detainees to Yemen since Yemen has shown
little ability to control even the most dangerous terrorists we
release. Of the 100 Yemenis who remain at Guantanamo, about 15 have
been cleared for transfer to Yemen. Another 15 may face trial in the
United States. Some of the remaining Yemenis could go to Saudi Arabia,
but the Yemeni Government is protesting the move.
Other inmates who have been released have shown up on the battlefield
in places like Pakistan and Iraq. One former inmate from Kuwait
traveled to Syria after his release, snuck into Iraq, and plotted
attacks against U.S. forces there. He eventually drove a truck packed
with explosives into a joint American and Iraqi military training camp,
blowing himself up, and killing 13 Iraqi soldiers.
Each one of these concerns is serious enough to warrant a
reconsideration of the administration's decision to close the detention
facility at Guantanamo Bay. Taken together it is hard to imagine the
administration is not already having second thoughts. Of the
alternatives that have been considered, some, like a transfer of
detainees to Europe, may no longer be viable.
But even if these inmates were sent to Europe, one all-important
question would remain: What then? Will they be released? With a
recidivism rate now hovering around 12 percent, this is a risk that is
simply too dangerous to take--especially when it only takes
[[Page S3125]]
one terrorist to inflict unimaginable horror.
According to the European Union's own rules, a detainee who is
released within a 25-nation area within the EU is free to move about
these countries without even a passport check. A member of al-Qaida who
is sent to Europe and subsequently released could easily reenter a
transnational terrorist network--and the recidivism rate suggests that
this is not at all unlikely.
Guantanamo itself, on the other hand, has proven to be a completely
secure facility: in more than 7 years of use, not a single prisoner has
escaped Guantanamo to maim or kill a single innocent person. Let me
repeat that: in the more than 7 years that we have used Guantanamo as a
detention facility, not a single prisoner out of the roughly 800 who
have been housed there has escaped to maim or kill a single innocent
person.
No one has credibly argued that the inmates are poorly treated: three
meals a day, a full library or books, magazines, and DVDs, and medical
care that is said to be excellent. Indeed, one European official who
visited in 2006 called Guantanamo ``a model'' prison and better than
the ones in Belgium. This is not Abu Ghraib.
Attorney General Eric Holder is in charge of the review of the
detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. He captured the dilemma over
Guantanamo after a recent trip there when he offered a glowing report
on the facility, said the prisoners were being treated well--and then
reiterated the administration's intent to close it within the year. On
some level, the Attorney General must realize how illogical this seems.
If he doesn't, then for the sake of the safety of the United States and
its citizens, it is my hope that he realizes it before the end of the
year.
President Obama was right and courageous to rethink an artificial
deadline on withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq. As we approach another
artificial deadline, it is my hope that he rethinks this decision
irrespective of what they may think in certain European capitals. Any
shift in our policy on these detainees must meet a simple test: Will it
keep us as safe as Guantanamo has from men like the ones whose names
appear behind me? If the answer is no, then the policy we have is best.
At the moment, the only safe option is to keep the inmates at
Guantanamo in one place--and that's right where they are.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record
the court order to publish the Islamic Response to the Government's
nine accusations and the Response itself.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. KHALID SHEIKH MOHAMMED, WALID
MUHAMMAD SALIH MUBARAK BIN `ATTASH, RAMZI BIN AL SHIBH,
ALI ABDUL-AZIZ ALI, MUSTAFA AHMED ADAM AL HAWSAWI
D-101--Commission Order Regarding Pro Se Filing: ``The
Islamic Response to the Government's Nine Accusations''
1. On 5 March 2009, the Commission received and reviewed in
chambers D-101, an unclassified document titled ``The Islamic
Response to the Government's Nine Accusations'', filed pro se
by the above named Accused.
2. The Commission directs that copies of this pleading be
served upon the prosecution and defense counsel of record, to
include stand-by counsel. The Commission further directs the
pleading be provided to the Clerk of Court for immediate
public release.
3. As this pleading seeks no specific relief, no responses
are required by either the prosecution or defense.
4. The Clerk of Court is directed to have this order
translated into Arabic and served upon each of the Accused
So Ordered this 9th day of March, 2009:
Stephen R. Henley,
Colonel, U.S. Army,
Military Judge.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA vs. KHALID SHEIKH MOHAMMED, WALID
BIN `ATTASH, RAMZI BIN AL SHIBH, `ALI `ABD AL-`AZIZ `ALI,
MUSTAFA AHMED AL-HAWSAWI
THE ISLAMIC RESPONSE TO THE GOVERNMENT'S NINE ACCUSATIONS''
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most
Compassionate
The 9/11 Shura' Council
Many thanks to God who revealed the Torah, the Bible, and
the Quran, and may God praise his messenger, the prophet
Mohamed, so that he causes mercy to the two realms. Also, may
God praise the prophet's household, his entire companionship,
and his followers until judgment day.
With regards to these nine accusations that you are putting
us on trial for; to us, they are not accusations. To us they
are badges of honor, which we carry with pride. Many thanks
to God, for his kind gesture, and choosing us to perform the
act of Jihad for his cause and to defend Islam and Muslims.
Therefore, killing you and fighting you, destroying you and
terrorizing you, responding back to your attacks, are all
considered to be great legitimate duty in our religion. These
actions are our offerings to God. In addition, it is the
imposed reality on Muslims in Palestine, Lebanon,
Afghanistan, Iraq, in the land of the two holy sites [Mecca
and Medina, Saudi Arabia], and in the rest of the world,
where Muslims are suffering from your brutality, terrorism,
killing of the innocent, and occupying their lands and their
holy sites. Nevertheless, it would have been the greatest
religious duty to fight you over your infidelity. However,
today, we fight you over defending Muslims, their land, their
holy sites, and their religion as a whole.
The following is our Islamic response back to your nine
untenable, just like a spider web, accusations:
First, ``the conspiracy accusation'':
This is a very laughable accusation. Were you expecting us
to inform you about our secret attack plans? Your
intelligence apparatus, with all its abilities, human and
logistical, had failed to discover our military attack plans
before the blessed 11 September operation. They were unable
to foil our attack. We ask, why then should you blame us,
holding us accountable and putting us on trial? Blame
yourselves and your failed intelligence apparatus and hold
them accountable, not us.
With regards to us, we were exercising caution and secrecy
in our war against you. This is a natural matter, where God
has taught us in his book, verse 71 from An-Nisa: ((O you
believers! Take your precautions, and either go forth (on an
expedition) In parties, or go forth together.))
Also, as the prophet has stated: ``War is to deceive.''
With regards to the second. third, and forth accusations:
``Attacking civilians.'' ``Attacking civilian
objects.'' and ``deliberately causing grave bodily
harm'':
We ask you; who initiated the attacks on civilians? Who is
attacking civilian objects? And who is causing grave bodily
harm against civilians? Is it us, or is it you?
You are attacking us in Palestine and Lebanon by providing
political, military, and economic support to the terrorist
state of Israel, which in turn, is attacking unarmed innocent
civilians. In addition, Israel attacks Palestinian and
Lebanese civilian objects by bombing them and destroying
them. Furthermore, Israel is causing grave bodily harm by
using weapons that are forbidden internationally, such as:
cluster bombs in Lebanon and the rubber and live ammunitions
in Palestine and breaking bones of Palestinian children.
Moreover, the Israeli criminal list is long and endless,
against civilians in Lebanon and Palestine.
In addition, was it not you that attacked an entire
population in Iraq, destroying civilian targets and its
infrastructure? Was it not you that has killed one million
Iraqi children caused by your oppressed economic sanctions,
which you imposed after the first Gulf War?
In fact, it was you who had wiped out two entire cities off
the face of the earth and killed roughly half a million
people in a few minutes and caused grave bodily harm by
nuclear radiation? Did you forget about your nuclear bombs in
Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
You are the last nation that has the right to speak about
civilians and killing civilians. You are professional
criminals, with all the meaning the words carry. Therefore,
we will treat you the same. We will attack you, just like you
have attacked us, and whomever initiated the attacks is the
guilty party.
In God's book, verse 193, Al-Baqara, he states: ((The
sacred month is for the sacred month, and for the prohibited
things, there Is the law of equality. Then, whoever
transgresses the prohibition against you, you transgress
likewise against him.))
God stated, in verse 179, Al-Baqarah: ((And there is (a
saving of) life for you in Al-Qisas (The law of equality in
punishment), O men of understanding, that you may become A-
Muttaquin (the pious).))
God also stated, in verse 40, Al-Shura: ((The recompense
for an evil is an evil like thereof.))
In verse 45, Al-Maida: ((Life for life, eye for an eye,
nose for a nose, ear for an ear, tooth for a tooth, and
wounds equal for equal.))
In verse 193, Al-Baqara: ((. . . Let there be no hostility
except to those who practice oppression.))
With regards to accusations five and six. ``Crimes in
violation of the law of war.'' and ``Destroying
property in violation of the law of war'':
Who is breaking the law of war in this world? Is it us, or
is it you? You have disobeyed all heaven and earth's laws of
war, to include your own laws.
You have violated the law of war by supporting the Israeli
occupation of Arab land in Palestine and Lebanon, and for
displacing five million Palestinians outside their land.
[[Page S3126]]
You have supported the oppressor over the oppressed and the
butcher over the victim.
Also, you have violated the law of war by attacking an
independent sovereign Arab nation with your first crusade
campaign in 1991. By force, you have occupied the Arabian
Peninsula and the Gulf. In addition, today, you are occupying
Iraq and Afghanistan.
Also, you have violated all laws of war, and in particular,
your treatment of Prisoners of War, in Afghanistan and Iraq.
We are the best example of such violations and your ``Black
Sites'' for torturing prisoners. This, and with your ``Abu-
Ghurayb'' prison in Iraq. Guantanamo camps are witness to all
of that.
So, you are the first class war criminals, and the whole
world witnesses this. You have no values and ethics and no
principles. You are a nation without a religion. On the other
hand, we are a great nation, with a great religion, values,
ethics, and principles, which we comply with and follow, and
we invite people to following our ways. History will testify
on our actions. You should look back at Salah Al-Din and how
ethically he treated your crusader ancestors that were
prisoners to him.
We fight you to defense our nation, our religion, and our
land. All heavenly and earthly laws guarantee our rights to
do so. We, Muslims, are content with God's book, the Quran,
to fight you with. God has granted us to fight, in verse 39,
Al-Hajj: ((To those against whom war is waged, permission is
given (to fight,) because they are wronged and verily, Allah
is most powerful for their aid.))
God stated in his book, verse 190, Al-Baqara: ((And fight
in the way of Allah those who fight you, but be not the
transgressor, Allah likes not the transgressors.))
With regards to the seventh accusation, ``Hijacking and/or
endangering a vessel or an aircraft'':
In return, we ask you: Which is more dangerous; Hijacking
and/or endangering a vessel or an aircraft, or endangering an
entire population with a military occupation, killing and
endangering innocent civilians by starving them with an
economic sanction?
If you do not respect the innocent in our countries, then
we will do the same, by exposing you to danger and hijacking
in the air, at sea, and land.
In God's book, he ordered us to fight you everywhere we
find you, even if you were inside the holiest of all holy
cities, The Mosque in Mecca, and the holy city of Mecca, and
even during sacred months.
In God's book, verse 9, Al-Tawbah: ((Then fight and slay
the pagans wherever you find them, and seize them, and
besiege them and lie in wait for them in each and every
ambush.))
Remember, that you are the ones who attacked the Iranian
civilian aircraft, flight 655, in 1988 with your Cruise
missiles over the Hermuz straights, killing all of its 290
passengers, among them 66 children. They are still shedding
tears today over your victims. Does your blood have a value
and the blood of Muslims not?
With regards to the ``Terrorism'' accusations:
Who are the real terrorists? Is it us, or is it you?
America is the terrorist country number one in the world. Is
has nuclear weapons of mass destruction, and the hydrogen
bombs, and the biological weapons, and its ocean fleets are
around the world, threatening countries' security and safety
and any country that is not subjected to its oppressed will.
In addition, America is the main shepherd of the main
support to the Israeli terrorism against Muslims in the
occupied state of Palestine, and also support and bond with
the terrorist governments of the Arab and Islamic world,
which, in turn, oppress and suppress their own people that
are calling for freedom, and the application of Islamic law.
We do not possess your military might, not your nuclear
weapons. Nevertheless, we fight you with the almighty God.
So, if our act of Jihad and our fighting with you caused fear
and terror, then many thanks to God, because it is him that
has thrown fear into your hearts, which resulted in your
infidelity, paganism, and your statement that God had a son
and your trinity beliefs.
God stated in his book, verse 151, Al-Umran: ((Soon shall
we cast terror into the hearts of the unbelievers, for that
they joined companies with Allah, for which he has sent no
authority; There place will be the fire; and evil is the home
of the wrongdoers.))
God also stated in his book, verse 60, Al-Anfal: ((Against
them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power,
including steeds of war, to strike terror into the heart of
the enemies of Allah and your enemies.))
Also, God has informed us, in his book, of what is in your
heart from fear and terror towards us, and that you fear and
have been terrorized from us more than God himself. Verse 13,
Al-Hashir: ((Of a truth you (Muslims) are more feared in
their (the infidels from Christians, Jews, and others)
hearts, than Allah. This is because they are men devoid of
understanding.))
Therefore, you do not fight us face-to-face, man-to-man.
But rather, you fight us from behind roadblocks, trenches,
and warplanes, which are thousands of feet in the air.
Your status in Iraq and Afghanistan does not need any
further explanation. God has demonstrated to us your mental
and your defeated fighting moral status.
God has stated in his book, verse 14, Al-Hashir: ((They
fight not against you even together, except in fortified
townships, or from behind walls, their enmity among
themselves is very great, you would think that they were
united, but their hearts are divided. That is because they
are a people who understand not.))
Our prophet was victorious because of fear. At a month
distant, the enemy did not hear from him.
So, our religion is a religion of fear and terror to the
enemies of God: the Jews, Christians, and pagans. With God's
wiling, we are terrorists to the bone. So, many thanks to
God.
The Arab poet, Abu-Ubaydah Al-Hadrami, has stated: ((We
will terrorize you, as long as we live with swords, fire, and
airplanes.))
With regards to the ninth accusation. ``Material support to
terrorism'':
America is the number one, and the largest country in the
world, in spreading military might and terrorism. Also,
America is the principle and greatest supplier to the
occupying terrorist state of Israel in Palestine. Also,
America supports and finances the terrorist regimes that
govern the countries of the Arab world, such as Egypt, Saudi
Arabia, and Pakistan.
Nevertheless, we are defending our rights, land, religion,
and our oppressed Muslim brethrens around the world.
Therefore, we would spend all of our money and properties for
this cause. This is not strange, since Muslims are all part
of the same Umma.
We will make all of our materials available, to defend and
deter, and egress you and the filthy Jews from our countries.
God has ordered us to spend for Jihad in his cause. This is
evident in many Quranic verses.
Verse 195, Al-Baqara: ((And spend of your substance in the
cause of Allah, and make not your own hands contribute to
your destruction, but do good; for Allah loves those who do
good.))
We ask to be near to God, we fight you and destroy you and
terrorize you. The Jihad in god's cause is a great duty in
our religion. We have news for you, the news is: You will be
greatly defeated in Afghanistan and Iraq and that America
will fall, politically, militarily, and economically. Your
end is very near and your fall will be just as the fall of
the towers on the blessed 9/11 day. We will raise from the
ruins, God willing. We will leave this imprisonment with our
noses raised high in dignity, as the lion emerges from his
den. We shall pass over the blades of the sword into the
gates of heaven.
So we ask from God to accept our contributions to the great
attack, the great attack on America, and to place our
nineteen martyred brethren among the highest peaks in
paradise.
God is great and pride for God, the prophet, and the
believers. . . .
Signed: The 9/11 Shura Council
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
Ramzi bin As-Shibh
Walid bin 'Attash
Mustafa Ahmed Al-Hawsawi
'Ali 'abd Al-'Aziz 'Ali
Sunday, 3/1/1429h
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader is recognized.
Mr. REID. Madam President, I certainly agree with the Republican
leader about AIG. If I were in the AIG administration, I would
recommend they give back those bonuses. Remember, we as a Congress are
not defenseless. We can also do things. Senator Baucus, chairman of the
Finance Committee, is going to make a proposal that will certainly send
a message to the people at AIG and others who try to benefit from the
hardships the American people face. So in the next 24 hours, you will
hear from the chairman of the Finance Committee, Senator Baucus, that
AIG's recipients of these bonuses will not be able to keep all their
money. That is an understatement.
Also, regarding Guantanamo, I think we should not make this a
political issue. John McCain has come out in favor of this. ``I think
that it's a wise move,'' McCain said about closing Guantanamo Bay. So
this is something President Obama is not out there alone on.
____________________